New Frontier Data released a new report called “Cannabis Consumers in America Part 2: The Purposeful Consumer” released on Oct. 4, which analyzed the trends of cannabis consumers’ locations where and when they imbibe. In partnership with Jointly, this data revealed many interesting facts about consumers based on age, why they consume, and more.
Among all consumers, 50% of them usually choose to use cannabis when they’re alone, whereas 22% do it with significant others, 15% with friends, and 10% with family. The trends in age in relation to who and where they consume with was 42-57 enjoyed consuming alone (usually outside of the home), with those aged 58-76 with their significant others (who prefer to consume at home above other locations), and those under 26 years of age liked consuming with friends. “This may be due to those on the younger end of the age cohort having minors at home, motivating a search for places to consume apart from them,” New Frontier Data said.
With all of these age groups in mind, many consumers sought out a desired effect, such as recovering from exercise, focus and create, improve sleep, energize and uplift, ease pain, relieve stress, and many more. “For ‘relaxation & refresh’ or ‘ease everyday pain,’ the cannabis factors were of more importance than for non-cannabis, and were responsible for 64% and 61% of the variations in experience ratings, respectively,” New Frontier Data wrote. “For ‘enhancing intimacy,’ the results were inversed, with non-cannabis factors being the dominant driver in experience ratings. Other goals were a near split, lending roughly 50% to each group of factors.”
Time of day was also a factor for these desired goals, with evening being the prime time for consumption. Flower also remains the go-to consumption method by a large margin, followed by vaping at around 20-25% of consumer goals, and dabs and edibles at a very small percentage.
These trends identify how cannabis may affect tourism now, and in the future. “While home was the most common location for consumption, a natural setting was the venue where consumption goals were most often met,” New Frontier Data wrote. “This presents interesting opportunities in the world of cannabis travel and tourism.”
States with adult-use cannabis have embraced cannabis tourism, which New Frontier Data suggests as anything from “bar-style lounges, cannabis-friendly hotels, bud-and-breakfasts for weekend getaways or vacation stays, ganja-centric hiking, running, and bicycling tours, or even spiritual/meditational programs to re-set one’s soul.” Major cities such as Las Vegas, Boston, and Houston are becoming more popular destinations for the possibilities of consumption lounges that allow for safe, public consumption for visitors.
New Frontier Data cites cannabis attractions, such as the Denver Puff, Pass, Paint art class, or Los Angeles-based private Cannabis Supper Club, which could shape the future of where cannabis is consumed, based on acceptable or legal options.
New Frontier Data’s first part of this series focused on “Dynamics Shaping Normalization in 2022, which reviewed consumer consumption trends and preferences. The third part in the series, called “Consumer Archetypes,” has not yet been published.
In June, Forbes stated that the cannabis tourism industry is valued at $17 billion, and it’s expected to grow now that the pandemic has begun to subside. But cannabis tourism is changing now as well with countries such as Amsterdam mulling over banning tourists from visiting the city’s most famous coffeeshops. Some of Amsterdam’s longest running businesses, such as The Bulldog, have been in business for over 50 years.
